Possible Interaction: Croton Oil and Urethane

“ Urethane produced only systemic tumors, but its association with croton oil resulted in skin papillomas as well.”

“The yield of papillomata induced by a single injection of urethane followed by croton oil is also increased by an application of croton oil given 23 hours before the carcingogen.”

“It was found in this laboratory that, when urethane was included in the diet for a period of … forming papillomata and the number of papillomata per tumour-bearing mouse were greater if the first application of croton oil was … the urethane diet than if the applications … later (Pound, 1962).”

“Since croton oil leads to inflammation and proliferation of cells in the skin, it was suggested that the stimulated cells might be more susceptible to the action of urethane, or that inflammation increased the availability of the ingested urethane to the skin.”

“Therefore, it might be predicted from these suggestions that an increased tumour yield would be found if mice were given a single application of croton oil at a definite interval before an injection of urethane , in which case the action of urethane would be limited to a short period.”